Rolling mill guides



1960 w. s. DRYSDALE ROLLING MILL GUIDES Filed Aug. 10, 1955 all,

INVE/VT'OR' WILL/AM S. DRYSDALE,

his Af/omey.

2,962,917 Patented Dec. 6, 1960 ROLLING MILL GUIDES William S. Drysdale,Gary, "Ind., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a,corporationof New Jersey l Ail .1 Q,.1 f- N 527,481

eni ma. or. {501-951) This inventionrelates to an improved guide forrolling mills in which the work travels between a -set of vertical rollsand a set of horizontal rolls.

My guide is especially suited for hot strip mills of the type whichinclude spaced apart stands of vertical edging rolls and horizontal workrolls, although obviously it can have other application where similarproblems are encountered. Hot strip mil-ls of this type require guideswhose members are located on opposite sides of the work and confine thework rather closely as it travels between the vertical and horizontalroll stands. Any adjustment in the separation of the vertical rolls toaccommodate work of a different width necessitates a correspondingadjustment in the spacing of the guide members. Previous guides withwhich I am familiar can be adjusted only as a separate operation duringwhich the mill must be shut down. In many instances these guides arepositioned with makeshiflt wedge blocks which cannot be adjustedaccurately and are readily dislodged.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved guide whichis adjusted automatically and accurately with each adjustment in rollseparation of a vertical stand.

A further object is to provide an improved guide whose opposite membersare fixed to the respective adjustable housings of a vertical roll standand are adjustable therewith.

A further object is to provide an improved guide which has the foregoingcharacteristics and includes equalizers for assuring that the guidemembers are adjusted uniformly.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I haveprovided improved details of structure, a preferred form of which isshown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

The single figure is a diagrammatic top plan view of a portion of arolling mill equipped with my improved guide.

The drawing shows a portion of a conventional hot strip rolling mill,which includes spaced apart stands of vertical edging rolls l and a andhorizontal work rolls 12. Mills of this type commonly include amultiplicity of both horizontal and vertical roll stands, but a showingof only two stands is sufficient to illustrate my invention. In the twostands illustrated, work W passes first through the edging rolls tosquare its edges and thence through the work rolls to reduce itsthickness.

The edging rolls 1t) and 10a are journaled in housings 13 and 13a whichare horizontally adjustable toward and away from each other to vary theroll separation for accommodating work W of different widths. in theillustration these housings are supported on transverse rails 14 and 15.Adjustment is effected by rotation of screws 16 and 16a, which areengaged with the respective housings and are powered by electric motors17 and 17a through reduction gearing 18 and 18a. The horizontal workrolls 12 can be journaled in any suitable form of housings which are notshown since they are not involved in my invention. An apron plate 19extends between the two roll stands for supporting the work as ittravels therebetween.

In accordance with my invention, a guide which comprises a pair oftransversely spaced elongated bars 20 and 20a is mounted on the apronplate 19 to guide the work between the two roll stands. The spacingbetween said guide bars corresponds approximately with the separationbetween the vertical rolls 1i) and 10g, and adjustment in the rollseparation necessitates a corresponding adjustment in the guide barspacing. For ,this purpose eaeh guide bar *isaQttached-adjacent itsentry end to the respective.roll housings. 13 and 13am move therewith,and e ach is equipped with an le qualizer to assure that it movesuniformly. "Sinceihe two equalizers are similarly constructed, adescription of that for the guide bar 2i) suffices for both. Thisequalizer includes a horizontal shaft 21 journaled in bearings 22 and 23mounted on the apron plate 19 and extending parallel to the guide bar.Pinions 24 and 25 are fixed to opposite ends of the shaft 21. Gear racks26 and 27 are fixed respectively to the roll housing 13 and to the exitend portion of the guide bar 20 and mesh with the respective pinions 24and 25. Consequently any adjustment of the housings to adjust the rollseparation likewise automatically adjusts the guide bars, and theequalizers assure uniform adjustment of the latter. There is no separateadjustment required for the guide, and no need to shut down the mill tomake the adjustment.

While I have shown and described only a single embodiment of myinvention, it is apparent that modifications may arise. Therefore, I donot wish to be limited to the disclosure set forth but only by the scopeof the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a rolling mill which includes a set of vertical rolls, a pair oftransversely spaced housings in which the respective rolls arejournaled, an apron plate extending from said rolls on the exit sidethereof and adapted to support work leaving said rolls, and means foradjusting the position of at least one of said housings to vary the rollseparation, the combination therewith of a guide for confining work atits vertical sides as it travels on said apron plate, said guidecomprising a pair of transversely spaced elongated bars supported onsaid apron plate and terminating short of the bite of said rolls andhaving opposed vertical Work-engaging faces spaced apart approximatelythe same distance as the roll separation, means attaching one end of oneof said bars to the adjustable housing for adjustment therewith, a shaftjour'naled to said apron plate and extending parallel to the adjustablebar, a first gear rack fixed to the adjustable housing and extending atright angles to the adjustable bar, a second gear rack attach-ed to andextending from adjacent the other end of the adjustable bar at rightangles thereto and spaced from said first gear rack, and pinions fixedto said shaft and meshing with said gear racks, said shaft, gear racksand pinions moving the adjustable bar uniformly throughout its lengthwhen adjustments are made in the roll separation.

2. In a rolling mill which includes a set of vertical rolls, a pair oftransversely spaced housings in which the respective rolls arejournaled, an apron plate extending from said rolls on the exit sidethereof and adapted to support work leaving said rolls, and means foradjusting the positions of said housings to vary the roll separation,the combination therewith of a guide for confining work at its verticalsides as it travels on said apron plate, said guide comprising a pair oftransversely spaced elongated bars supported on said apron plate andterminating short of the bite of said rolls and having opposed verticalwork-engaging faces spaced apart approximately the same distance as theroll separation, means attaching one end of each of said bars to therespective housings for adjustment therewith, a pair of shafts journaledto said apron plate and extending parallel to the respective bars, afirst pair of gear racks fixed to the respective housings and extendingat right angles to said bars, a second pair of gear racks attached toand extending from adjacent the other ends of the respective bars atright angles thereto and spaced from said first gear racks, and pinionsfixed to said shafts and meshing with said gear racks, said shafts, gearracks and pinions moving said bars uniformly throughout their lengthswhen adjustments are made in the roll separation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS865,047 Kennedy Sept. 3, 1907 998,756 Dean July 25, 1911 1,061,676Kennedy May 13, 1913 1,209,085 Watson Dec. 19, 1916 1,217,611 Leek Feb.27, 1917 1,447,274 Benjamin Mar. 6, 1923 1,828,323 Kramer Oct. 20, 19312,026,459 Caretta Dec. 31, 1935 2,072,121 Montgomery Mar. 2, 19372,276,080 McCaslin Mar. 10, 1942 2,578,337 Coddington Dec. 11, 19512,816,467 Thoren Dec. 17, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 736,896 Great BritainSept. 14, 1955 OTHER REFERENCES Websters New International Dictionary,second edition, page 863.

Knights New Mechanical Dictionary, Knight, page 20 316, Houghton Miffiin& C0., 1884.

time;

